At IMS2022, Guerrilla RF, Inc. announced it is now sampling the GRF5526 and GRF5536, the latest in a series of new ¼ W linear power amplifiers being released by the company. These InGaP HBT amplifiers were designed specifically for 5G wireless infrastructure applications requiring exceptional native linearity over large 100 MHz bandwidths and temperature extremes of -40°C to 85°C.

Spanning frequency ranges of 2.5 to 2.7 GHz and 3.3 to 4.2 GHz respectively, the GRF5526 and GRF5536 are tuned to operate within the n7, n30, n38, n40, n41, n48, n53, n77, n88 and n90 5G new radio bands. The devices typically deliver 23 dBm of linear power over the entire -40°C to 85°C temperature range while maintaining ACLR levels of better than -45 dBc, IMD3 levels < -20 dBm, EVM levels < 1.5 percent, and PAE Efficiencies in the 14 percent range–all without the aid of supplemental linearization schemes like digital predistortion (DPD).

The ability to beat the -45 dBc ACLR performance metric without DPD is critical for cellular applications like home and commercial repeaters/boosters, femtocells and picocells, as well as cable loss compensators which are used in conjunction with automotive ‘shark fin’ antennas. In each of these use cases, the sensitivity to cost, power and size constraints prohibits the use of elaborate linearization techniques like DPD. Instead, designers must rely on the power amplifier’s native linearity to meet the stringent emissions mask requirements imposed by the latest 5G standards.

During the development of the GRF55xx series, Guerrilla RF consulted directly with its customers to ensure the devices delivered the best blend of power and linearity, thus maximizing the effective range and throughput for their cellular systems. Guerrilla RF also designed the family of devices to be fully footprint compatible, enabling its customer base to rapidly customize their designs for a myriad of cellular frequencies.

“With the addition of the GRF5526 and GRF5536, Guerrilla RF has now completely filled out its portfolio of ¼ W PAs for cellular applications,” said Ryan Pratt, CEO and founder of Guerrilla RF. “The entire family of InGaP HBT PAs has proven to be extremely popular with our cellular repeater and automotive customers, and we expect these latest additions to be key enablers as our customers update their designs to accommodate for the newest 5G frequency bands.”

The GRF5526 and GRF5536 come in pin-compatible 3 x 3 mm, 16-pin QFN packages.

Pricing and Availability

Samples and evaluation boards are available now for the GRF5526 and GRF5536. Prices start at $1.78 (10,000-up, EXW USA).